Wasn't Expecting That
by SugarPunch
Summary: Despite the chilly air surrounding her and the other visitors, Ruby Rose had never felt so warm before. Well, aside from snuggling into Yang's arms, of course. Yang was basically her personal heater. But her older sister wasn't here right now – and yet she felt the same warmth spreading throughout her body, easily making her ignore the cold that was late Autumn's embrace. One-shot.


It was _packed_.

A soft breeze of wind passed the young girl as she glanced around and noticed just how many more fans had arrived to stand in line in front of the theatre. She had been right to come here early and conquer a spot in front of the row, making the long hour of the newfound waiting game a bit more worth it.

Despite the chilly air surrounding her and the other visitors, Ruby Rose had never felt so warm before. Well, aside from snuggling into Yang's arms, of course. Yang was basically her personal heater. But her older sister wasn't here right now – and yet she felt the same warmth spreading throughout her body, easily making her ignore the cold that was late Autumn's embrace.

Ruby figured it was just the adrenaline. In about an hour or so she'd be sitting in a nice and comfy seat, staring at a gigantic screen as it played one of her favorite movie series of all time. The second the girl had heard they were finally making a sequel to the franchise, she had jumped out of pure joy and eagerly counted the days until its release.

Today was that day. Today, Ruby Rose would finally get to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Unfortunately for her, the geeky friends she had that _would_ enjoy this movie had other plans and couldn't make it tonight. Some of which had upcoming exams, others were just helping them study. Jaune was almost tearing up when Ruby had asked him to come with her, telling her he couldn't pass on Pyrrha's tutoring sessions _again_.

She didn't mind, she mused. Jaune needed it. He was smart, but he couldn't do it on his own. Sometimes he just needed an extra push and Pyrrha was the perfect candidate. Ruby knew that the boy would be rewarded with a movie ticket to the exact same movie if he did his absolute best.

Blake was a complete mystery. Whether the girl skipped out because of work or some personal matter, Ruby didn't know. She _did_ know Blake wouldn't miss this without a reason, so she held no grudge towards the raven haired girl.

Poor Ruby Rose, at her wits end, had finally asked her sister to tag along with her, but even the blonde had some other matter to attend. While Yang wasn't exactly a Star Wars fan, she did want the best for Ruby and to see her happy. The young girl knew her older sister would have said yes otherwise. She assumed Weiss was much scarier than she was when provoked and therefore let Yang to her own devices with her girlfriend tonight.

Hopefully her sister would still be in one piece when she returned – it sounded like they were having an argument and Ruby knew how Yang was during one. Either they both exploded into a ball of pure rage or Yang would suck it all up and let her fists talk at the gym the next day. She just hoped it wouldn't end in a heartbreak or broken limbs.

Rather than being concerned, though, she decided to occupy her mind with the upcoming movie. She did text Yang every now and again to check up on her sister – and the house, really. What if Weiss had left with a grudge and set it on fire? – but after an entire hour it seemed the argument had died down. Ruby glanced at her scroll with a soft smile knowing it had come to a good end and carefully placed it into her pocket when she locked the screen. Now that _that_ was settled, she could focus on other things.

One of which was the people surrounding her. She seemed to be the only one that had come alone so far. Couples and small families stood proudly in line, happily chatting about anything that came to mind.

Ruby didn't mind not having a partner, or so she thought. But when she noticed just how lonely she was, that was exactly how she felt. The warmth died down and slowly a chill ran up her spine as the wind played with her short locks of hair. Her silver eyes landed on the small patch of ground before her, and as she intertwined her own hands in an attempt to keep them warm, she briefly thought about leaving. What was the point of going to the movies alone, anyway? She couldn't laugh and cry and theorize with someone else now. That was basically the best part.

"Salutations, my friend!"

The young girl was so in thought at that exact moment, that she didn't realize those words were spoken to her at first. Only when a pair of feet entered her vision, noticing the tip of the noses were pointing at her, did she look up. Green eyes locked with silver, the former filled to the brim with a smile as wide as could be seen on the girl's lips. The third thing Ruby noticed was the bright orange hair that seemed to make the girl glow even more.

Confused, Ruby looked over her shoulder to see if she wasn't actually just seeing things. Maybe the stranger was talking to a friend directly behind her, because she didn't know the orange haired girl _at all_ and yet she called her a friend. _Her_ friend.

The ones that stood directly behind her weren't paying attention to the two girls at all. In fact, they were chatting away about something Ruby wished she could unhear.

Turning back around to face the stranger once again, Ruby pointed a finger at her chest. "Me?" she asked, confusion still plastered on her face.

The girl giggled.

"Yes, you! Who else could I be talking to? I'm looking at you, aren't I?"

Ruby blinked. She opened her mouth to try and reply, but forming one was harder than she had presumed. She blinked again. "Uh... What?"

The girl took another step in her direction, to which Ruby forced herself to remain on the spot. What if this girl was just trying to sneak into the line and use her? Maybe she would force Ruby _out_ of the line and conquer her spot. She wasn't about to let that happen.

"Are you alone, friend?" the stranger asked again. When Ruby looked up to meet her gaze once more, she noticed the concerned frown on her forehead. Was that... Was that legitimate concern? Or was she faking it? Ruby didn't know what to think.

Nonetheless, she responded. "Yeah, I am... Why?"

The frown melted away and soon a small smile graced the orange haired girl's lips. She nodded once before replying. "You looked a bit sad. This is one of the greatest movie franchises in history. You shouldn't be sad going to a premier like this, right?"

And then it dawned on the young Rose. She had probably made a face just now and that caught the girl's attention. That didn't make her any less weary, but it was a welcome distraction until they could enter the building.

"So you're here for Star Wars too?" Ruby asked, a smile of her own now on her lips as she tried to start a light conversation. Socializing wasn't exactly her cup of tea, but if this girl loved the franchise as well, at least they had a topic to start with.

"Yes, I do! I personally love the special effects and the robots. Did you know they used a lot of oil paintings in the original series to make up for the lack of technology?"

Okay, it was as clear as day. This girl was as big of a fan as she was. Ruby's smile turned into a big grin as she swiftly nodded her head. "Yeah! I saw them the other day and it looked _amazing_! I wish I could paint like that," she commented.

Her conversational partner chuckled. "So they would hire you next?"

"I mean, I wouldn't be _against_ it," Ruby replied with a chuckle of her own. She sheepishly scratched the side of her cheek. "Though I think they would rather use a computer in this century."

The stranger giggled again, but their small talk was cut short and instead an awkward silence fell upon them. Ruby balanced on the tip of her toes, switching her weight back to the ball of her heels and back to her toes again as she swung back and forth. The girl seemed a bit distracted with her own thoughts at the moment.

Seconds later, however, her voice was heard again. "Do you mind if I join you for a minute?"

Ruby stared right into her pleading eyes. "You're not with someone either?" she asked, though she already knew the answer. If the stranger had a friend to talk to, she probably wouldn't have come to Ruby. Seeing the girl shake her head didn't come as a surprise. "Well, it would help kill time, I guess," the black haired girl replied with a toothy grin. "What's your name?"

Green eyes lit up at hearing that. "Penny," she introduced herself. "Penny Polendina."

Wait, they were supposed to say their last name too? Ruby had never done that before. It felt a bit... Not personal. A business thing. The confusion must have been evident on her face, because Penny quickly apologized. "Sorry, I've always wanted to try a James Bond," she admitted, looking at anyone but Ruby as a small blush formed on her cheeks.

Ruby noticed the freckles then, but caught herself staring before any damage could've been done.

"You should've started with your last name, then," she said, earning a questioning glance from the orange haired girl. "The James Bond thing. He says his last name first."

While Ruby thought geeky people geeking about things was extremely cute, she inwardly cursed herself. She sounded like a know-it-all, but doing an impersonation of Weiss was the last thing she wanted to do right now. This could be a potential friend.

"The name is Rose," she quickly added, the small frown that had subconsciously formed on her forehead melting away, replaced by a warm smile only the Rose-Xiao Long household could make. "Ruby Rose."

Penny smiled back at her and for once Ruby felt like she was finally starting to get the whole concept of making friends. Normally she would fumble with her words or drop a conversation altogether because she worried about what to say. This time was different. This time it was almost easier. Was that because of Penny?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ruby Rose," Penny spoke up. Ruby came back to earth right then.

With a chuckle, and her hand curling up in front of her lips to cover up her giant smile, she opened her mouth to retort. " _Please_ ," she started. "The pleasure is all mine."

Both girls broke into a set of giggles as if they had caught a teacher stealing an apple in the cafeteria. That quickly had to die down, though, as Ruby's scroll started to ring at that exact moment.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized as she grabbed the item and held it to her ear after she pressed the right button. Ruby didn't even need to glance at the screen to know it was Yang – her sister having a different song set as calling tune. "Hello?" she softly spoke into the microphone, but immediately after, she held her scroll away from her ear. A muffled scream could be heard.

Glancing over at Penny, Ruby immediately saw the horrified look on her face. Biting her lower lip she quietly wished that her new friend wouldn't think badly of her after this.

The scream died down and the young Rose deemed it safe to hold her scroll to her ear again. "What was that?" she dared to ask. "Yang, what's going on? Do I need to come home?"

It took her sister several seconds to answer her questions. Ruby heard several indescribable noises before finally recognizing her sisters voice. "Yeah, sorry about that Rubes. I fucked up big time, and now Weiss is mad at me _again_." Ruby rolled her eyes. Of course Yang did. "That was her screaming. At what time are you back from the movies? This _might_ not be resolved before then."

Sighing, Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose, but knew better than to be angry at her big sister. Why Yang had fallen for someone that was clearly her polar opposite was beyond her. "I don't know yet. It's said to be a little more than two hours long, and the movie doesn't start until eight, so I guess I could be back at eleven if the busses cooperate."

A high pitched yell could be heard in the distant, but it was too far away from the microphone to hear the actual words. Ruby heard a restraint groan on the other end of the line and braced herself for Yang's retort. "Oh, _your feelings_? What about _my feelings_? No, don't worry about my feelings babe! Because that's _ancient history_!"

Ruby tried to distract herself from the onslaught of angry yells by looking at Penny, but she only received a worried look from the girl. Shaking her head, she tried her best to intermingle. "Yang? Yan – Oh for the love of – YANG! I'll just go stay over at Nora tonight, okay?" Her sister tried to form a response, but got distracted once again and started yelling _once again_. Ruby sighed a final time. "Silence means you're agreeing. See you tomorrow, bye."

She hung up before her hearing could get damaged some more.

"Sorry about that. My sister is... Well, she has a lively relationship with her girlfriend." Ruby didn't even dare to look into Penny's eyes, but somehow couldn't help herself and did anyway. There was still concern in them, though a small smile had formed on her lips.

"So that's what having a sister is like?" she asked, catching Ruby a bit off-guard. That wasn't a comment she was actually expecting.

"Huh? I mean – I guess? Sometimes we're the ones fighting, but most of the time we get along well," she replied. Her scroll had safely found its way back into her pocket. "So you're an only child?" Ruby then decided to ask. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Penny had a brother, but never got to experience what having a sister felt like.

"Yes," Penny admitted, clearing that one up for Ruby as quick as possible. "Sometimes it gets really lonely, so I try to compensate with having a lot of hobbies."

That was... Oddly honest. But it was also kind of cute, in a way.

"What do you like to do?" Maybe this was less painful to talk about than the loneliness. While Ruby couldn't complain with Yang around, she did sometimes feel abandoned when her father didn't pay much attention to her. She looked like her late mother, and while Taiyang didn't blame her or anything, she could see the hurt in his eyes when their gaze met.

Penny seemed eager to talk about her hobbies. "Oh, I've tried a lot of things! Drawing, painting, writing, sculpting..." the girl listed happily. Her smile faltered a bit as she continued. "I tried sports, too, but that's not really my thing." The look in her eyes told Ruby either something embarrassing had happened or she had just failed to get results from the workouts. Either way she didn't press on the matter.

"I take it you're not in some sort of club, then?" Ruby mused. "I used to free-run a lot with some other kids, but I had to stop because I didn't have much time anymore. We're still friends, though, so that's cool."

Penny's expression fell as she fumbled with her hands. The sudden display of awkwardness from the girl made Ruby frown in worry. Had she said something wrong?

"N-No. My interest switches from time to time and my father says it's too expensive," the orange haired girl explained. Her eyes lit up again as realization seemed to hit her. "Is that a quick way to make friends?"

That was odd. It almost sounded like Penny didn't have many friends, but she looked so cheery and friendly. Surely she had more experience in befriending people, right? Ruby mustered up some courage to confront her.

"You don't have a lot of friends...?" For the second time during their conversation, the young girl cursed herself. Not only did she sound weak, but what if she got too nosy? What if Penny didn't like talking about this? What if she made the girl really uncomfortable, so she decides to leave? Ruby didn't want that to happen. She actually enjoyed talking to Penny.

Luckily for Ruby, the girl merely shook her head. "Most people think I'm weird," she responded.

Ruby's heart broke. No, it didn't shatter into several shards. It felt like it got crushed by a gigantic boulder, smashing her fragile heart into a million pieces. People really thought that? She had to admit the girl had this strange aura surrounding her, but that wasn't nearly enough to rub Ruby up the wrong way.

"I'll be your friend."

She had said it without hesitation, but also without thinking it through. After all, she had just met Penny. Then again, friendships started whenever you wanted and in whichever way you wanted. If this made the girl happy, then Ruby was more than willing to oblige. And judging from the huge grin she received – Ruby could only compare it with Zwei's 'happy face' – she had made the right decision.

That was, until Penny suddenly rocketed her way, almost successfully knocking her to the ground. Ruby managed to remain standing, but she did get the wind knocked out of her. Did Penny really just attack her?

Glancing down, she could only see a huge amount of orange hair covering most of her upper body. Relying on her other senses better now, Ruby finally noticed the arms around her waist. Penny's hold wasn't strong enough to squeeze the air out of her lungs, unlike someone else would do without putting any effort in it, but it _was_ strong enough to make her heartbeat fasten a whole lot.

Ruby didn't know what to blame it on, but she sure tried her hardest to find an excuse.

"Err, hey –" the girl gulped. "If you want me to be your friend, you should probably keep me alive."

A soft laugh erupted from beneath her as the grip seemed to loosen. Ruby sighed in relief, though also felt a bit disappointed she was let go entirely not a second later. "Sorry," Penny apologized. That started to become a reoccurring thing this night. "My excitement usually is what scares people off in the first place."

 _No_ , Ruby almost screamed out loud. _That's way too cute to be scary_.

She stopped that train of thought right there.

"Don't apologize for feeling happy," Ruby responded with a small wave of her hand. "Yang tackles me to the ground all the time when we've been apart for more than three hours. And I've had my fair share of excitement, too." A sheepish grin spread across her face, earning her a curious look from Penny. Oh boy. She was going to have to share those experiences, wasn't she?

"Really?"

Yep, she was.

A nervous laugh was the first reaction she could give, followed by another scratch of her cheek. "I can talk for _hours_ on end about medieval weapons. Or Star Wars, of course," she admitted. "The first time I found out, I was on a field trip with my class in the beginning of the year. You know, to get to know each other better. I didn't know anyone at all and the first person who mentioned something along the lines of Star Wars had my full attention."

Thinking back, she really should've listened better before engaging into a conversation.

"I didn't really know they were just hating on the franchise. Or that it was the infamous bully of our class..."

Ruby chuckled grimly just reminiscing about it. But she couldn't let it ruin the conversation she had with Penny.

"That's how I met Jaune. He defended me and Star Wars without hesitation, and that was the only day I saw him acting like a true Jedi." She started laughing, earning a chuckle from Penny as well. The other girl may not know Jaune yet, but Ruby guessed she just thought the story was funny.

Speaking of which...

"If you'd like, I could introduce you to some of my friends. They like Star Wars too, so you'll have something in common already."

Penny seemed to perk up at that, as a broad smile graced her lips and reached her eyes. "You would do that for me?" she asked.

Ruby nodded, forcing down a small blush. How could she not agree to it? The girl was cute. She couldn't deny that any longer.

Before she could embarrass herself any longer, however, a cheer could be heard from the front of the line. It was quickly accompanied by other cheers, some louder than others. Ruby frowned and tried to glance at the front entrance. Unfortunately she was rather small and couldn't look over the crowd.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked in confusion.

Penny casually looked at her wrist, checking her watch for the time. "I think they're opening the doors now. Talking to you passed the time rather quickly."

It _almost_ sounded disappointed. Ruby took a few seconds figuring out why that was.

"You know, friends usually watch a movie together…" the black haired girl began. Her eyes fell to the ground as she shyly stared at her feet, shuffling with them to distract herself. Penny meant she enjoyed her time with her, right?

"Do you mean to say you want to watch it with me?" Her companion responded. She sounded a bit wary, as if she didn't want to hurt Ruby's feelings, but her enthusiasm was clearly evident in her voice.

Ruby simply nodded. She got rewarded with the happiest grin she had ever seen. Not even Yang could compare to it.

Penny thanked her for her friendliness, to which she sheepishly scratched the back of her neck and tried to humbly accept the compliment. At that exact moment the line started to move and the both of them slowly followed the rest inside.

It still took them more than a half hour to get to the entrance, but they both knew it was going to be completely worth it. If you asked Ruby Rose, it already was. Penny was incredibly friendly and chipper, somehow managing to already break through Ruby's shell with little effort. Up until they went inside they kept talking about trivial things, and it greatly helped with forming their newfound friendship.

When they found their way in, Ruby turned to Penny as soon as they got their tickets. She decided she wanted to treat the orange haired girl to a snack, but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak up, Penny beat her to it.

"Would you like some popcorn or a different snack? My treat," the girl asked.

Ruby's eyes widened slightly. "No way, I was about to ask you the same thing," she started, before trying to come up with a solution. She didn't want to take up on the offer without having something else in return. Luckily she found one quickly after speaking up. "Alright, but I'm paying for the drinks then."

Penny seemed fine with that and as they both went to the bar standing close to the entrance, they chatted some more until it was their turn to order.

Being raised by her dad made Ruby a true gentlewoman and therefor she let her new friend go first. She received a grateful smile in return before her companion turned to the man behind the counter. "Can I have two popcorn bags, please?" Penny asked.

The man smiled at her. Ruby figured that was because of the orange haired girl's own smile. "Wouldn't you prefer one large bag? It's cheaper, but it has the same amount."

Penny hummed thoughtfully, then turned to face her friend. Ruby nodded once more. "That's fine with me, so if that's okay with you," she added, making the girl grin even wider than she had before.

"One large bag, please!"

The man swiftly went to work and handed her the bag of popcorn, trading it for her money. Penny received some change after that as well, happily accepting it before darting to the side of the line. There she waited for Ruby, who now ordered their drinks and returned to the girl's side once she retrieved them.

"Alright, now all there's left is to find a nice seat," the black haired girl stated. She waited for Penny to take a step towards the right room and then followed her inside, letting her silver eyes scan the various rows of taken and available seats.

Sadly, her favorite row was completely taken, but they could still get decent seats.

"How about over there?" Penny asked, pointing towards two particular empty seats next to each other. Apparently those were the only two still unoccupied in that section.

"Sure, if those aren't taken yet," Ruby agreed, letting Penny ascend the stairs first. When they reached their destination, it seemed like they got lucky. No one had claimed them yet.

Her bubbly friend sat down cheerily and greeted the people sitting next to her. They returned her greeting with the same excitement, obviously ecstatic to see the new movie in less than half an hour now. Ruby smiled as she looked at the exchange while sitting down herself. She was sure Penny and her friends would get along just fine.

The girl then offered her companion her drink. She accepted it and the both of them took a small sip, their throats a bit dry from the conversations they had until this point.

"I'm really curious on how the movie progresses," Penny then says, absentmindedly grabbing some popcorn from the large bag.

Ruby, in turn, does the same, not even thinking about the awkwardness of getting in the girl's personal space. She blamed the cheery aura that was hanging around her freckled companion. "Me too! I wonder if we get to see the old characters again," she replied.

That seemed to spark up a conversation with not just Penny, but the people sitting around them as well. Ruby felt the same warmth spreading through her body as before, smiling brightly when she noticed it herself. She looked up to see her friend staring at her, but instead of feeling embarrassed by being caught, Penny smiled back with confidence.

Ruby felt her heart skip a beat.

She tried to distract herself with the conversation that was taking place between the people surrounding her, actively trying to listen and chime in when she thought it necessary. But despite her efforts, she couldn't ignore the fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach, slowly trying to spread through the rest of her body whenever she glanced at Penny.

And when the lights went out and the commercials started, she swear she could explode when her fingers softly caressed past Penny's as they tried to grab some popcorn at the same time. Ruby weakly apologized, hoping this wouldn't make things awkward between them.

Instead of replying with words, however, her friend offered her some popcorn to show it didn't matter to her. At least not in a bad way.

But when the actual movie began, Penny's excitement took form in her grabbing Ruby's hand and grinning broadly. Poor Ruby didn't know how to respond at first, limply letting her hand rest in Penny's. Only when it became apparent the girl wouldn't let go did she squeeze slightly, earning a squeeze back seconds later.

They opted to hold each other's hand through the entire movie. Whether it was thanks to the excitement or something else, Ruby did not know, but what she did know was that it turned out not to be so bad to visit the movies on her own.

Though, she definitely wouldn't mind going to the theatres with Penny from now on.

* * *

 **A/N** **:** Hello again! Mod Cecille here! I wrote this way back when the new Star Wars movie came out, because even though I wasn't much of a Star Wars fan, I was still hyped thanks to the internet. Penny and Ruby seemed like the nerds who would drop everything to go see this, so it was the perfect opportunity to write some Nuts and Dolts for a change. Hope you like it!

I noticed there's a serious lack of Nuts and Dolts love on here. I'm intent on changing that, so stay tuned!


End file.
